Fracked gas could enter Ireland's energy supplies as EU promises US billions in 'energy cooperation'
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US President Donald Trump met in Scotland over the weekend to
strike a trade deal
in the wake of Trump imposing tariffs on the EU.
In addition to agreeing on a new 15% tariff rate for EU exports to the US, the EU has promised to spend around €650bn on LNG, oil and nuclear fuels from the US over the next three years.
Climate activists have said it is a step backwards for Europe in its efforts to switch to renewables and reduce greenhouse gas emissions that are causing climate change.
In a statement after the deal was struck with Trump, von der Leyen said: 'We will increase our energy cooperation. Purchases of US energy products will diversify our sources of supply and contribute to Europe's energy security.'
'We will replace Russian gas and oil with significant purchases of US LNG, oil and nuclear fuels,' she said.
The White House said that the EU agreed 'to purchase $750bn [€650bn] in US energy' by 2028.
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Von der Leyen and Trump speaking to media on Sunday after meeting in Scotland.
Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Trump's stance on energy policy has been to remove supports for renewable energy developments and incentivise fossil fuel projects, which he lauds for their financial prospects despite having a massively negative impact on the planet.
That has spanned oil, coal, and gas, including fracked gas, a method of extraction that is even worse for the environment and human health than more conventional drilling methods.
The Journal
asked the Department of Climate if the energy aspect of the trade deal could mean that Ireland could end up with more US fossil fuel imports in its energy mix – either inadvertently through interconnection with the continent, or deliberately through planned LNG infrastructure called a Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) that
received approval on 4 March
.
A spokesperson for the department said the FSRU 'is likely to be leased, subject to an open market competition' and that 'the contract for replenishing of the FSRU with LNG will also be an open market procurement'.
The spokesperson noted that the government's decision to approve the FSRU also brought about the end of a previous government policy which had banned the direct importation of fracked gas.
'Any application for fossil fuel infrastructure in Ireland will be subject to the planning, consenting and regulatory approvals by relevant bodies and the provision of the Climate Act 2015-2021 will apply. In line with EU and National Legislation, there is no specific prohibition on fracked gas over other forms of fossil fuel – a level playing field applies,' the spokesperson said.
'Bad news for the planet'
The Green Party has criticised the EU's acceptance of the energy clause slotted into the trade deal.
The party's European affairs spokesperson and former MEP Ciarán Cuffe said that averting the trade war came at a 'heavy cost'.
'It will lock the European Union into buying vast amounts of oil and fracked gas from the United States. This is bad news for the planet and may derail the EU's climate targets in the coming years,' Cuffe warned.
'US President Trump's views on climate contradict what we know about our warming world and will have heavy consequences in years to come,' he said.
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Councillor Janet Horner described the move to grow spending on fossil fuels as 'immoral, short-sighted and deeply damaging'.
Horner said the 'outrageously high target is a move in the total wrong direction given the urgency of moving away from fossil fuel'.
She added that Europe's long term energy security 'lies in low-carbon fuels such as wind and solar' but that these are 'being directly attacked by the US administration'.
'It is a betrayal of all who are working tirelessly to secure a climate stable future that von der Leyen, on behalf the EU, has offered this up on the chopping block of the negotiations.'
Shay O'Reilly, a spokesperson for Beyond Fossil Fuels, a coalition of groups campaigning for decarbonisation, told
The Journal
that 'the past few years of energy crisis has shown that relying on fossil gas imports remains far riskier for the EU than investing in homegrown renewables'.
O'Reilly said the EU-US deal 'opens the door for countries and utilities to lock in more US gas', which risks 'undermining Europe's push for energy independence'.
'True energy security lies in building a resilient domestic grid powered by renewables, not doubling down on foreign gas,' he said.
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